Bowling pin storage and distributing apparatus



June 29, 1965 A. w. KALBFLEISCH BOWLING PIN STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTINGAPPARATUS 17 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Jan. 9, 1959 JTTQEWiYS June29, 1965 A. w. KALBFLEISCH 3,191,934

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BOWLING PIN STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 9,1959 June 29, 1965 -A. w. KALBFLEISCH 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.IOOLPl/E 14 KALJFZE/SC/r' JTTOR/ViY- June 1965 A. w. KALBFLEISCH3,191,94

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All/IV INVENTOR. Ag. &3 4001/ W. KAZJFZf/SCH United States Patent3,11%,934 EGWLING PIN STGRAGE AND D38- TRIBUTING APPARATUS Adolphe W.Kalhileisch, l eannette, Pa assignor, by mcsne assignments, to Robert.E. Weber and Adolphe W. Kalbileisch, trustees Griginal application Jan.9, 1959, Ser. No. 785,844, new Patent No. 3,048,398, dated Aug. 7, 1%2.Divided and this application May 23, 1962, Ser. No. 203,425 11 Claims.(Cl. 273-43) This application is a division of my copending application,Serial No. 785,844, filed January 9, 1959, and now Patent No. 3,048,398.

This invention relates to a pin handling machine for bowling alleys, andmore specifically to a bowling pin storage magazine or apparatus forholding a set of pins for distribution to the pin setter or spotter.

The invention is particularly adapted to handle both duck pins andstandard bowling pins. Duck pins are shorter than standard pins, andtheir bodies are provided with a projecting band of resilient material.In bowling, it is not uncommon after one or more, but less than all,pins are knocked down following a first ball to have a pin leaningagainst one or more fallen pins, and playing rules generally providethat a leaning pin (a pin is not regarded as fallen so long as its side,which includes the band of a duck pin, does not touch the alley) shouldbe reset by swinging it to an upright position without displacing thepoint of contact between the base of the pin and the alley. Generally,leaning pins are disposed more or less crosswise of the alley.

Still further objects will be apparent from the following description ofthe machine and the accompanying drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a sideelevation of the assembled machine;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of the frame of the machine; FIG. 4 is a planview of the frame of FIG. 3; a

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the machine showingthe elevator, main carriage, and pin liftlifting carriage;

FIG. 6 is a partial-rear elevation of the view shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view ofthe pin lifting carriage;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged side elevation, partly in section, of a portion ofthe main and pin lifting carriages with the latter in its .pin liftingposition;

FIG. 9 is a plan View of a portion of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a front elevation, showing the pin lifting fingers erecting aleaning pin;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a portion of the main and pin liftingcarriages, showing means for entering the pin lifters;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a sub-assembly of the main and pin liftingcarriages;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged verticalsection taken generally along the centerline of the elevator and the main and pin lifting carriages; 7

FIG. .14 is a schematic view ofthe cable suspension and actuating meansfor raising and lowering the elevator;

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of the cable actuating means for operatingthe sweep;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged portion of FIG. 13, illustrating the means forreciprocating the main and pin lifting carriages, which are shown intheir back positions;

FIG. 17 is a plan View of the detail shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a vertical sectionalong the line XVIII XVIII of FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 is similar to FIG. 16, but with the main and pin liftingcarriages in their extreme forward positions;

3,191,934 Patented June 29, 1865 FIG. 20 is a plan view of the pinsetting carriage for setting a complement of ten bowling pins on thealley;

FIG. 21 is a side elevation of a portion of the pin setting carriage,showing a pin setting tube and means for releasably securing a bowlingpin therein;

FIG. 22 is a bottom view of that portion of the apparatus shown in FIG.21;

FIG. 23 is a schematic view of the means for suspending the pin settingcarriage within'the main carriage and of the means for locking andunlocking those 'two carriage for conjoint and relative verticalmovement;

FIG. 24 is an isometric view of the pit conveyor and of the vertical pinand ball hoist conveyor for removing pins and balls from the pit;

FIG. 24a is a diagrammatic plan view of the interconnected drive meansfor the pit conveyors and the hoist conveyor and the associated drivenelements shown in FIG. 24;

' FIG. 24b is a diagrammatic rear elevation'of the drive means of FIG.24a; FIG. 25 is a plan view of a portion of the pin storage magazine andof the horizontal reach of the pin conveyor hoist, a portion of thelatter being deleted to give a clear view of one of the pin storageunits;

FIG. 26 is a vertical section along the line XXVI XXVI of FIG. 25;

FIG. 27 is a vertical section taken along the line XXV II-XXVII of FIG.26;

FIG. 28 is a somewhat diagrammatic View, similar to FIG. 26, showing onepin storage unit receiving a second pin from the pin conveyor;

- FIG. 29 is a schematic view of the pin chutes for delivering pins fromthe pin storage magazine to the pin setting tubes;

FIG. 30 is an isometric view of the release means for discharging pinsfrom the pin storage pockets;

FIG. 31 is a schematic wiring diagram of the electrical circuit foroperating the apparatus;

FIG. 32 is a chart showing the sequences of operation of the apparatus;and

FIG. 33 is a schematic wiring diagram of the indicator panel showing thestatus of play at any given time during a bowling game.

The bowling pin apparatus herein described includes generally pinsetting and resetting devices, pin gathering and conveying means, pinstorage means, and an electrical control circuit. The invention will bedescribed in connection with the handling of duck pins; but it will beunderstood that, except for dimensional changes, it is equallyapplicable to the handling of standard pins and other types of pins.

' Pin setting and resetting devices In the drawings, numeral 1designates the pin receiving portion of a bowling alley, the latterterminating in a pit 2 for receiving pins removed from the alley. Oneach side of the alley are ball gutters 3 and kick backs or sides 4. Amain frame 5 spans the alley and is rigidly mounted on the upper edgesof the sides 4. This frame includes upright members 6, cross members 7,and top members 8 (see FIGS. 1-4); it supports the pin setting andresetting devices and the pin storage magazine.

The elevator (see FIGS. 1, 2, and 5 ).Suspended by cables Within theframe is an elevator 10, comprising side bars 11 disposed on each sideof the frame and secured at their ends to sleeve 12. These sleeves areslidably mounted on vertically extending guide rods 13 secured to theupright frame members 6. The elevator has two positions: a top position(shown in FIG. 1), in which the pin handling devices supported by theelevator do not interfere with play, and a bottom position (shown inFIG.

5), in which these same devices are operative to sense the presence ofstanding and leaning pins, pick up standing and leaning pins, whether onor off their regular spot positions, reset previously standing andleaning p ns n their previous on or off-spot positions, or set' new pinsin their regular on-spot positions.

The cable suspension for raising and lowering elevator 10 is shownschematically in FIG. 14. The front ends of side bars 11 are supportedby one pair of cables 16 and 17, the back end by a similar pair 18- and19, each pair forming, in effect, an endless cable secured to the sidebars. The cables pass around various sheaves 21 attached to the mainframe, and a portion of each cable, intermediate its ends, is wrappedaround a common windlass rod 22, which is driven by a reversibleelectric motor ME through a gear reduction 24. It will be apparent fromthe drawing, without further description, that the elevator will beraised when the Windlass 22 turns in a counterclockwise direction(viewed from the left) and will be lowered when the Windlass is turnedin the opposite direction. To limit the load on the driving motor, theweight of the elevator and of the devices supported by it issubstantially balanced by counterweights 25, which are supported bycables 26 passing over sheaves 27 on the main frame and around sheaves28 on the elevator.

The main carriage (see FIGS. 1, 2, -6, 8, 12-13, and 1619).A maincarriage 30 is suspended on rollers 31 from the side bars 11 of theelevator and by means described below, is movable longitudinally of thealley into a forward or back position (right and left, respectively, inFIG. 1 and left and right, respectively, in FIGS. 5, 13, and 16-19).This carriage includes a depending frame portion 32, beneath which tenpin clamping pads 33 are mounted on rods 34 slidably received withinsleeves 35, the latter being attached to cross bars 37 of the carriage.Each pad 33 is permitted limited vertical reciprocation, and preventedfrom rotating, by a pin 38 projecting from the side of its supportingrod 34 into a slot 39 in the wall of the sleeve 36 (see' FIG. 8). Eachpad is yieldably held in its downward position by a coil spring 41extending between the top of the pad and its supporting sleeve. Inaddition, the bottom of each pad is preferably provided with a layer ofresilient material 42 to cushion the shock of contact with the head of astanding pin. When the elevator is lowered, each pad resiliently engagesthe head of any standing or leaning pin immediately below it and clampsthe pin under the pressure of springs 4-1 to the bed of the alley. Thepads are triangularly disposed (see FIG. 12), so that the axes of theirsupporting sleeves 35 will be directly above the regular pin spots whenthe main carriage is in its forward position. Each pad has a broad frontand a tapering rear end (such as the exemplary shape shown in FIG. 12),which observation has shown will enable the pad to clamp leaning orstanding pins that are displaced from their on-spot positions duringnormal play.

The pin lifting carriage (FIGS. 1, 2, 5, 7-1], 13 and 16J9).A pinlifting or resetting carriage 50 includes a pair of side rails 51supported by rollers 52 mounted on the main carriage 36, so that the pinlifting carriage may be moved longitudinally of the alley into a forwardor back position relative to and beneath the main carriage 30. The pinlifting carriage also includes four horizontal cross rails 53 ofrectangular cross section, preferably tilted at an angle of about 45 Tenpin lifters 54 are slidably supported on these cross rails by brackets56, which ride the rails on flanged rollers 57. These pin lifters aredisposed in a triangular array with from one to four pin lifters on eachcross rail, as shown in FIG. 7. Each pin lifter includes a pair oflifting fingers 69, having spaced parallel portions 61 forming a throat,and diverging end portions 62. These diverging portions are bentvertically in opposite directions, as shown in FIGS. 5, 8, and 13, topermit pin lifters supported on the same cross rail to overlap to somedegree without interference. The throat of each pin lifter is slightlywider than a pin neck (broken line A in FIG. 9), but narrower than a pinhead (broken line B in FIG. 9), so that the throat may loosely receive apin neck and then lift the pin by its head.

When the elevator 19 is lowered with the main carriage 36 in its forwardpin-clamping position, the pin lifting carriage 50 is initially in itsback position, so that each pin lifter will be behind an adjacentclamping pad 33 and any on or off-spot standing or leaning pin clampedthereunder. By means to be described later, whenever the pm liftingcarriage is returned to this back position, each pin lifter is centereddirectly behind the midpoint of its adjacent clamping pad (i.e.,directly behind a pin spot). When a resetting operation is called forafter a partial knockdown of pins on the first ball, the elevator goesdown (main carriage forward, pin lifting carriage back) to clamp one ormore standing or leaning pins; then the pin lifting carriage movesforward to its front position and any on-spot clamped pin will bereceived directly in the throat of the adjacent pin lifter. If the pinis clamped in an off-spot position, its neck will contact the inner sideof one or the other of the diverging portions 62 of fingers 6t) and,since the pin is clamped, will center the advancing pin lifter byshifting it on its cross rail, on which it is readily movable, until theneck of the pin is received within the throat. When the elevator is thenraised (the pin lifting carriage remaining in its forward position) topermit fallen pins to be swept from the alley, the clamping pads releasethe standing or leaning pins before the pins are lifted from the alley.To assure that this will happen, the vertical travel of the pin liftersbetween their bottom, pin neck-receiving position (elevator down) andtheir initial pin lifting positions (elevator rising and the fingersstarting to engage the heads of standing pins) is made greater than thevertical travel of the clamping pad rods 34 in their sleeves 36. Thisvertical travel of the pin lifters can be adjusted by varying thevertical distance between the pin lifting fingers 60 and the pads 33, bysliding the pin lifters 54 upward or downward in holes in brackets 56and securing them in the desired position by set screws 63. FIG. 8 showsa pin lifter in its initial pin lifting position engaging the head of apin; with the clamping pad 33 already disengaged from the head of thepin.

The features explained in the preceding paragraph permit the resettingof leaning pins in accordance with playing rules previously stated. FIG.10 shows a leaning pin 64 supported by a fallen pin 65 and clamped inits leaning position by one of the pads 33 (not shown). As the pinlifting carriage is advanced, a diverging finger 62 of a pin lifter 54contacts the neck of the leaning pin; and the further advance of the pinlifting carriage 50 causes the pin lifter to center itself as previouslydescribed and to receive the neck of the leaning pin in the throatbetween fingers 60. When elevator 10 rises, the pad 33 releases the headof the leaning pin before the fingers lift it. Then, as the risingfingers come into lifting engagement with the pin head, their tendencyto drag the base of the pin over the alley until the pin is in an erectposition below the fingers is opposed by the friction between the baseof the pin and the alley, the latter being sufiicient to move the pinlifter to the right on its cross rail, thereby tilting the pin into anerect position, as shown by the broken lines in FIG. 10, withoutdisplacing its point of contact with the alley. This operation would notbe possible if the clamping pads did not release the head of the pinbefore it was lifted by the fingers, since the pin would then be clampedbetween the pad and the fingers, locking the pin lifter on its crossrail.

When the elevator is in its top position with the pins lifted from thealley, a sweep (to be described below) removes fallen pins from thealley and gutter, discharging them into the pit 2. The elevator is thenlowered, with the main and lifting carriages still in their forwardpositions, and the lifted pins are set down on the alley in theirprevious on or off-spot positions (leaning pins being reset in theirerected positions). The reset pins are then clamped to the alley by thepads 33, While the pin lifting carriage is moved to its back position tocompletely disengage the pin lifters from the pins and to recenter thepin lifters for the next operation. The elevator is then raised to itstop position and play resumes.

By inclining the cross rails 53 on the pin lifting carriage and bymounting the pin lifters thereon as shown in FIG. 8, a pin lifter iseffectively locked on its cross rail after lifting a pin from the alley.This locking feature results from the increased friction between theflanged rollers 57 and the cross rail 53 on which they ride as a resultof the leverage exerted by the full weight of a lifted pin supported inthe throat of the pin lifter. In other words, the construction shownpermits the pin lifters not only to hunt on and off-spot standing andleaning pins and center themselves about the necks of those pins; butalso, once the pins are lifted, to hold them in the desired positionuntil they are reset.

FIG. 11 shows a means for centering each of the pin lifters 54 directlybehind a pin spot whenever the pin lifting carriage 51) is moved to itsback position relative to the main carriage 30 after each resettingoperation. Crossed flexible cables 66 and 67 have one of their endssecured to the pin lifter bracket 57 and their other ends secured to aforwardly adjacent cross member 37 on the main carriage. The cables areof such length that when the pin lifting carriage is moved to its backposition the cables will tighten and center the pin lifter. When the pinlifting carriage moves forward during a resetting operation, the cablesare slackened so as not to interfere with the lateral freedom ofmovement of .the pin lifter on its cross rail within its desired limitsof travel.

The main carriage and the pin lifting carriage (see FIGS. 16-l9) areboth driven by the same reversible electric motor MC, which is mountedon a rear cross member of the elevator 10. The motor drives a gearreducer 69 which has a shaft 70 extending on either side of the gearreducer and is supported at its outer ends by a bearing bracket 71mounted on the elevator. Adjacent each end of this shaft is secured apinion gear 72, each pinion engaging a separate rack 73 on a portion ofa rack bar 74, which extends along the side of the machine and issupported on rollers 76 mounted on the bracket 71. The forward end ofeach rack bar 74 is attached to the upper end of a post 77 that is partof the pin lifting carriage. Accordingly, the forward and backreciprocations of the rack bars on each side of the machine will resultin a similar reciprocation of the pin lifting carriage.

The pin lifting carriage 50 is locked to the main carriage 30 when thelatter is reciprocated between its front and back positions. Each of theposts 77 passes through a longitudinally extending slot 78 in a guidemember 79 attached to one of the side frame members 31 of the maincarriage 30. Mounted on the frame member 81 is a latch support 82, onwhich is mounted a pin 83, pivotally supporting a latch 84 having adownwardly extending notch 86 adapted to receive and lock onto the topend of post 77. Latch 84 also has an upwardly extending trip portion 87,and the latch is urged into locking engagement with the top of post 77by a spring 88 extending between the rear end of the latch and a springsupport 89 on an upper side frame member 91 of the main carriage.

In order that the pin lifting carriage may move forward relative to themain carriage after the elevator is lowered (with the main carriage inits forward position) to lift and reset standing pins on the alley, aninverted, L-shaped latch release bracket 92 is mounted on the inside ofeach elevator side rail 11. The top horizontal portion 93 of thisbracket is adapted to engage the front, inclined edge of the tripportion 87 of latch 84 and to release the latch from post 77 when thepin lifting carriage is urged forward with the main carriage in itsextreme front posit-ion. As the pin lifting carriage moves forward, post77 advances in the slot 78 of guide member 79 on the main carriage. Whenthe pin lifting carriage is then retracted to its back position relativeto the main carriage, rearward movement of the latter is prevented by asecond latch means that locks the main carriage to the elevator. Thissecond latch means is provided by a horizontal lever 94, one of which ispivoted on each of the frame members 81 on either side of the maincarriage by a pivot pin 95. Lover 94 has an irregular shape as shown inFIG. 17. A cross piece 96 near the pivoted end of the lever is providedwith projecting end portions 97 and 98. The former cooperates withreverse bend portion 99 in the lever for engagement with post 77extending up from the pin lifting carriage. When the two carriages arelocked together by latch 84, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 with the maincarriage in its front position, further advancement of the pin liftingcarriage first unlocks latch 84, as previously explained. Continuedadvancement of the pin lifting carriage results in forward movement ofthat carriage relative to the main carriage, which remains stationary.Post 77 then strikes the reverse bend portion 99 of lever 94, swingingit on its pivot to occupy the broken line position shown in FIG. 17, sothat the lower end 101 of release bracket 92 on the elevator rail 11will be locked behind the lever 94 between the pivot 95 and theprojecting end 93 of that lever. The main carriage is thereby locked tothe elevator; and it remains locked until the pin lifting carriagereturns, to its back position, since post 77 in moving forwards andbackwards in slot 78 continually bears against the free end 102 of lever94 and maintains that lever in the broken line, locking position shownin FIGS. l7and 19.

When the pin lifting carriage is returned to its back position relativeto the main carriage, post 77 strikes the forward curved edge of latch84 (held in its elevated position by arm 93 on release bracket 92)Further rearward movement causes post 77 to engage projecting arm 97 oflever 94 and to unlock that lever from the lowerv end 101 of bracket 92,so that the lever reverts to the position shown in solid lines in FIG.17. At the same time, the back of post 77 engages the back of notch 86,and the two carriages are again locked together and are unlocked fromthe elevator rails, so that they can again move in unison between theforward and back positions of the main carriage.

The use of the rack and locking devices described above on each side ofthe main carriage 3t) assures smooth and even translation of the mainand pin lifting carriages from and to their various positions.

The sweep (see FIGS. 1 and ]5).-A sweep is mounted on a projecting frame111 attached to the main frame 5. This projecting frame includes achannel member 1-12, of which the front portion 113 is curved upwardthrough a short arc of about 90, while the rest of the channel extendslongitudinally on each side of the main frame. The sweep includes twoside arms 114, connected at their outer ends by a sweep bar extendingacross the alley and gutters. The inner end of each side arm isconnected to or adjacent to one end of a link 117 and held at a fixedangle thereto by a brace 1 18. One end of link 117 is pivotallyconnectedto the end of a link 119. Rollers 121 and 122 are rotatablymounted on link 117, and a roller 123 is similarly mounted on link 119near its free end. These rollers are received within the channel members-112 and 113, so that the sweep is movable backwards and forwards inthe channel members by cables, as described below. In its forwardposition, shown in FIG. 1,

the sweep is elevatedby its linkage and the curved portion of thechannel, so that it does not interfere with play. In its guard position,the sweep arms 114 are substantially perpendicular to the alley bed, andthe sweep bar 115 extends across the alley immediately in front of thepin receiving portion or pin deck; In this latter position, the links117 and 119 are on a straight line and the three rollers 121-123 arereceived within the straight channel portions. The guard position isassumed by the sweep whenever the elevator 10 is lowered, therebyprotecting

1. BOWLING PIN HANDLING APPARATUS COMPRISING CONVEYING MEANS FOR MOVINGPINS HORIZONTALLY IN A LINE WITH THE AXES OF THE PINS SUBSTANTIALLYNORMAL TO GIVEN VERTICAL PLANE, A PLURALITY OF PIN STORAGE UNITSDISPOSED IN A LINE BELOW TDHE CONVEYING MEANS, EACH UNIT INCLUDING APAIR OF CONJOINED PIN POCKETS DISPOSED ON EITHER SIDE OF SAID VERTICALPLANE AND PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED ON AN AXIS LYING IN THAT PLANE ANDPARALLEL TO THE LINE OF MOVEMENT OF THE PIN CONVEYING MEANS, TILTINGMEANS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH STORAGE UNIT AND OPERATIVE WHEN THAT UNIT ISEMPTY OF PINS TO TILT THE UNIT INITIALLY TO ONE SIDE ABOUT SAID AXIS TORAISE THE FIRST POCKET OF THE UNIT AND POSITION IT DIRECTLY BELOW THEPIN CONVEYING MEANS FOR RECEIVING A FIRST PIN THEREFROM,THE UNIT TILTINGIN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION ABOUT SAID AXIS FROM THE WEIGHT OF A PINRECEIVED IN THE FIRST POCKET WHILE THE SECOND POCKET IS EMPTY TOPOSITION THE LATTER DIRECTLY BELOW THE PIN CONVEYING MEANS FOR RECEIVINGA SECOND PIN THEREFROM, PIN SUPPORT MEANS EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAIDAXIS BETWEEN THE UPPER ENDS OF THE POCKETS IN EACH UNIT, EACH STORAGEUNIT WHEN FILLED WITH A COMPLEMENT OF TWO PINS BEING SUBSTANTIALLYBALANCED ABOUT SAID AXIS AND ASSUMING A CENTERED POSITION THAT ISSUBSTANTDIALLY SYMMETRICAL WITH RESPECT TO SAID VERTICAL PLANE TOPOSITION THE PIN SUPPORT MEANS BELOW THE PIN CONVEYING MEANS FORSUPPORTING OTHER PINS MOVED BY THE CONVEYING MEANS ACROSS THE TOP OF THEUNIT AND PREVENTING A THIRD PIN FROM ENTERING A POCKET OF THAT UNIT, ANDRELEASABLE LATCHING MEANS FOR HOLDING PINS IN AND DISCHARGING PINS FROMTHE POCKETS OF THE STORAGE UNITS.